November 9, 2014

"We must endure to the end; . . . We must so live as to acquire the attributes of godliness and become the kind of people who can enjoy the glory and wonders of the celestial kingdom."

- Joseph Fielding Smith

So I have to start out by saying how wonderfully great this past week was! I can’t believe how much success we are having here in Mansfield. When we first got here, we had no records, no teaching pool, a dirty apartment, and not really anything to work off of. Now we have so much going on that we don’t have time to do everything that we need to. It is such the greatest feeling! 

My companion gave me the kindest compliment this morning; she said, "I have never worked this hard on my mission!" I can’t believe how many people we have been able to help because our Heavenly Father has put His trust in us to help His children come back into the fold. One of the parables that has been on my mind a lot this week is the parable of the lost sheep. I think that it is amazing how Heavenly Father wants us to worry about the one versus the 99 that are together and can work together and help each other. We need to go after the one that is alone and easily tempted or in danger of falling and being captured/attacked by 'wild beasts'; We have had a lot of success these last couple of weeks with a few of the less-actives in our area. 

We have been working with Sis. Mills, and she is the cutest thing! She finally came out to the baptism last week (as you all know), and she decided this Sunday that she would come to church. It has been a long time, and there were so many people that were shocked to see her. She told us this week that she wants to start working on going to the temple... something that has sparked since she went to the baptism and was able to remember the feelings that she felt when she was entering the waters of baptism. She is so excited that she is inviting others to hear the gospel as well. She carries a Book of Mormon with her all the time, and she invited her great granddaughter to come to church with her! The great granddaughter is 8 years old, so we are going to start teaching her and helping her as she really enjoyed church and getting to know so many kids her age. 

We also have been working off and on with Sis. Lizzie. She expressed to us the same day as Sis. Mills that she too wants to work towards going to the temple. She knew that she needed to give up smoking and coffee. The day she told us all of this, she said that she had smoked her last cigarette. She came to church and apologized to everyone for the way she smelled. She said that she had no idea that she was living in that smell and that she had been deep cleaning and doing a lot of laundry in helping herself achieve this goal that she has set for herself. Again, on that same day, we were eating dinner with Sis. Price, and while we were teaching her children about the gospel of Jesus Christ, she jetted in when we were talking about enduring to the end, and she said, "Sometimes we fall, but thank goodness the Lord is merciful and allows us to try and try again. I decided that I am giving up coffee." We were both shocked that she too, on her own, knew what she needed to do to draw closer to the Savior and more fully keep His commandments! 

There were many other people that we were able to meet with this week, and each of them is progressing on coming back to church and rejoining the 99. This week we have been able to take Treyvon and Ak'elee out teaching with us, and they are amazing! They are unafraid to share their testimonies, say the opening or closing prayer, and just talk to get to know people. They have been helping us with her mother as well. 

We were able to teach Tracey the Restoration again this past Saturday, and the kids helped us tremendously with the lesson. Tracey mentioned to us that she completely felt the spirit and knows that this church is true. She has felt the spirit many times in her life as she has experience many trials and troubles throughout her life. Each of these trials (including almost losing her daughter due to a diabetic coma) has helped her now recognize the spirit and realize the power of the priesthood. She knows when she feels the spirit and is completely engaged in our lessons. We do have her on-date for baptism November 8th, and she is supposed to be married this weekend. Oh, the fun and exciting times of being a missionary!!! 

We also had a great experience this week following the council of our bishop. During our missionary meeting this past Wednesday, he asked us to go visit a specific part-member family. Sister Dana and I have tried to see them about every week since we got here and have had no luck. We had already tried to see them earlier that week, so we didn’t want to go again. We told the bishop of our efforts, and he asked us to just try one more time. Well, we went on Saturday during an odd time of the day, but that was the time that we felt that we needed to go. As we pulled up, the garage was open, and the whole family was sitting outside preparing a float for the Halloween parade. We just looked at each other, laughed, and then had an amazing contact with them. We didn’t feel that it was the right time to set up an appointment to come back again, but the wife (who is the nonmember) told us that she really enjoyed us dropping by and said that we are welcome back anytime! It was such a testimony builder to me that we always need to follow the council of our priesthood leaders because they are inspired by God! 

All of us missionaries sang in sacrament meeting yesterday. We sang 'Called to Serve.' First, and probably last time, I will do that! Haha we got a lot of compliments, but we don’t sing. 

An amazing experience that we had this week was that we got to go to the temple! It was amazing, and I was soooooo happy to be in the house of the Lord. It’s been 8 months, which is the longest that I have been away from that Holy Place, and it was just like coming home. The member that took us asked us to do some of her family names, and it was such a spiritual experience for us all! I can’t wait for when I am home and can set the pattern of attending every week! It truly is an amazing place where we can draw closer to our Savior, learn more of Him, and help each of us learn what patterns to establish to start living in harmony with the way that God intended. 

And lastly before I send off this letter, I received a call this morning from my Mission President where he asked me to become a Sister Training Leader. Everyone in the zone keeps texting us saying that "they called it." I am very excited for this experience and nervous. I know that it will take time away from proselytizing, but I know that it will make me work that much harder to find the children of God that are searching for the truth. I am so grateful for the many trials and tests that the Lord puts us through in our life. I know that He has a plan for each of us and is striving to make us better people. I know that this next adventure will help me become who He wants me to be. I pray that each of us will always look to Him as we go about our days so that we can become the servants and disciples that He needs during this last dispensation, to help rejoin the one that has fallen away with the 99. I love this work so, so much, and I absolutely love my job! 

-- Sister Gale